Momentum builds for health-care climate action

Additionally, more than 70 non-state actors, representing more than 14 000 health-care facilities in 25 countries, have joined the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) High Level Climate Champions' Race to Zero, committing to net zero emissions.9 Alongside this progress, under the leadership of the Government of India's G20 Presidency and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, G20 governments are discussing a set of high-level principles for health-care climate action grounded in a One Health approach (panel).10 These principles, which were discussed at a G20 co-branded event, led by the Asian Development Bank in April, 2023, provide a framework for developing and financing climate resilient, sustainable, low-carbon health systems and supply chains.10 Many governments have voiced support for the proposed principles and for the urgency of addressing the climate and health nexus. Some initiatives indicate what this could look like at a national level and in front-line services, such as England's National Health Service (NHS) net zero strategies11 and the collaboration between the NHS and the US Department of Health and Human Services to decarbonise the supply chain by aligning procurement requirements.12 Meanwhile, more than 1000 hospitals in the USA have pledged to reduce emissions and build climate resilience,13 and the US National Academy of Medicine has established an Action Collaborative to support efforts to decarbonise the US health-care sector.14 Portugal published a national carbon footprint assessment and action plan for net zero.15 The Netherlands have established a Green Deal on Sustainable Health Care to reduce emissions by 49% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.16 In May, 2023, France released a Road Map for Sustainability in Health Care that aims to provide credits for energy efficiency, subsidise electric vehicle fleets, and establish a sustainable procurement platform, among other initiatives.17 Importantly, environmentally sustainable health systems are now a major priority for the WHO Regional Office for Europe.18 Efforts are also underway in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) to advance low-carbon, climate resilient health development strategies that ensure the path to universal health coverage (UHC) reduces emissions.19 National health ministries in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, and Peru, among others, are initiating efforts to calculate their health-care sectors' climate foo